The Icelandic Roundup: Cats Running For Town Council And Independence Party in Trouble

On this week’s episode of The Icelandic Roundup, Grapevine editor-in-chief Valur Grettisson and culture editor Josie Anne Gaitens were joined by investigative journalist Bjartmar Oddur Þeyr Alexandersson from Stundin magazine. They discussed issues surrounding the upcoming municipal elections, which will be held on Saturday the 14th of May.

Bjartmar says that the biggest problem with these elections when it comes to Reykjavík is that perhaps there’s not much to discuss. The minority parties haven’t really found their foothold in their campaign and the result is that the Independence party (Sjálfstæðisflokkur), for example, is struggling. This was confirmed today when Fréttablaðið newspaper published a new poll which shows support for the party has dropped to the lowest figure recorded in decades, at just over 16%.

The Pirate Party in Reykjavík City is growing stronger every day and is now the second biggest party in the city according to polls, after the Social Democrats (Samfylking), which is the party of the Mayor of Reykjavík, Dagur B. Eggertsson.

The campaign in Akureyri is also interesting; cats, yes, literally cats, are running for office. And what’s more, according to polls, one cat is likely to gain a seat in the council.

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Thank you to Lava Car Rental and The Lava Centre for sponsoring this episode of The Icelandic Roundup.